


Late Night Celebrations (Damn the Consequences)

by osaycanyousolo



Category: Women's Soccer RPF
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-07
Updated: 2015-08-07
Packaged: 2018-04-13 09:51:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,342
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4517328
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/osaycanyousolo/pseuds/osaycanyousolo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hope and Kelley celebrate deep into the night with their teammates after winning the World Cup. Their teammates notice them noticing each other and decide to intervene.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Late Night Celebrations (Damn the Consequences)

Kelley stared across the dance floor over the top of her pint glass. She danced merrily alongside her teammates, glancing up occasionally to track the movements of the stoic, dark haired beauty. So far it was all eyes to her phone and nursing her drink since her friends had gone home.

“OMG dude, stop it. She’s not going to come dance with you!” Tobin yelled into Kelley’s ear. She had been so preoccupied with her surveillance, that she didn’t notice Tobin creep up behind her.

“Shit!” Kelley exclaimed as she started, sending the champagne in her pint glass sloshing. Tobin just laughed as Kelly turned and wiped her hand on Tobin’s shirt. She couldn’t quite remember why she was drinking champagne out of a pint glass or who had decided it was a good idea. “I wasn’t-“

“Shut up! Yeah you were,” Tobin interrupted smiling. “If you want her to dance, you’re going to have to convince her. You’re the only one who can.”

Kelley reddened, glad for the dim lighting in the bar. “Carli can,” she protested. “Why doesn’t she make Hope join the party?” 

Tobin shook her head, “Because Carli doesn’t care if she dances with you. Only you care if she dances with you. And Hope seems perfectly content with her nose in her phone now that her crew is gone.” Kelley raised her eyebrows in defiance, but Tobin persisted, “Just walk over there and rub yourself up against her, she’ll dance with you.”

“What’s going on ladies?” Pinoe asked, eyebrows raised, resting her arm on Kelley’s shoulder. A smirk played at the corner of her mouth, as if she knew exactly what they had been discussing.

“Oh you know, O’Hara’s usual pining and drinking. Drinking and pining,” Tobin declared. Kelly’s face reddened again and she shot her friend a murderous glance.

“Is that all? I thought so. Everybody’s noticed your love eyeballs,” Megan replied with a flick of her hand. 

Kelly stiffened. She thought she’d been at least a little covert. She remembered how often she’d been the object of the team’s teasing about her and Hope after the Olympics. She wasn’t anxious to have history repeat itself. She looked around quickly, but no one else seemed to be interested in their conversation. She turned back to Pinoe with a defiant look, “That’s bullshit Pinoe, nobody’s even looking over here.”

Tobin and Megan smiled at each other. Tobin shook her head, while Pinoe responded, “So funny that you didn’t deny it! But whatever, everybody knows. What everybody doesn’t know is what your little Georgia peach ass is going to do about it.”

“My little Georgia peach ass isn’t going to do shit about it and you know it. She’s fucking married,” Kelly replied. There was no use in denying that she was staring at Hope. It wouldn’t get her anywhere. All she could do at this point was try to convince Tobin and Rapinoe that she was wussing out. Because she was wussing out and she always would. Hope had made it perfectly clear that whatever had been exchanged between them in London so long ago was well over and had been a one-time thing. For three years Kelley had been trying to find that chemistry again, but now she was the single one and she was not about to interfere in whatever it was Hope had going. 

Megan slowly removed her arm from Kelley’s shoulder and turned to fully look her in the eye. She squinted her eyes briefly and pursed her lips before saying, “Mmh? Is she really though?”

***

Hope was desperate to leave the bar, even though only her teammates and their families were still here. The rest of the bar had been cleared out so the team could celebrate on its own. Her own friends and family had left at her insistence that the party would be over soon. She knew that trying to leave would just cause trouble. The rules were clear that the team came together and left together on the bus. She didn’t need to make any more waves. But she was so tired and so done with this party.

She looked up briefly from the million twitter messages she had gotten in the last few hours to see Megan and Tobin harassing Kelley over something or other. She shook her head slightly at the Stanford grad’s choice of celebration attire, smirking slightly as her eyes returned to her phone. The majority of the messages were congratulatory, but there were still plenty that were less than complimentary. It had been a long year filled with a roller coaster’s worth of ups and downs. Most of the team had been supportive, but she knew she had broken their trust. Only Carli had backed her unflinchingly. And Kelley. Even though their friendship had never returned to the way it was before the Olympics, Kelley had always supported her. And Hope had continued to push her away and let her down. 

She shook off the thought and looked up to see Ash heading her way with a devilish smile. Ash was trouble incarnate and Hope steeled herself for whatever was coming. She looked behind Ash to see Ali and Pinoe laughing, Ash having undoubtedly just left them. Trouble indeed. 

Hope took a long pull from the straw in her now watery drink and raised an eyebrow as Ash neared. Ashlyn stopped at the hightop and rested her forearms on the surface. She abandoned her smile with considerable effort and stared seriously at Hope. “You’re pinging,” she stated simply.

“Excuse me?” Hope replied meeting her eyes.

“You are pinging. And I thought you’d want to know cuz it’s super obvious,” Ash responded with a determination to be serious.

Hope narrowed her eyes, a furrow growing deeper on her brow. “I really don’t know what that means,” she said. But she did know what that meant, kind of. She’d heard the term before, but no one had ever dared use it in reference to her. Leave it to Harris to have the balls. She hoped her patented bitch face would deter the blonde keeper, but had a feeling that Ash wasn’t going to let this go. She stared at Ash, challenging a response. 

Ash predictively obliged, “Yeah you do. You’re sitting over here Hope Solo-ing and every time you look up at O’Hara, my gaydar pings.” Hope narrowed her eyes and a ghost of a smile played at Ash’s lips. “Watch,” Ashlyn rotated her index finger in wide circle and made a pinging noise as soon as she pointed to Hope. “See?” she asked, raising her hands in a shrug.

Hope rolled her eyes and shook her head. Bitchery was always her first line of defense and it usually worked pretty well, but she knew Ashlyn wouldn’t be easily deterred. The team was drunk on booze and winning and they were itching to keep that feeling alive, damn the consequences. But Hope couldn’t damn the consequences. She’d already been down that road with O’Hara and she wouldn’t let it happen again. She would always regret what happened. Well, not what happened, if she was being truthful, but the aftermath. She would always regret the aftermath. 

“Fuck off Ash,” she replied calmly.

Ashlyn laughed her off, clearly expecting that response. “Look Solo, why don’t you join the party for once?” she asked innocently. “You clearly want to make out with O’Hara and she clearly wants to let you. So rest your bitch face and go give the kid a thrill.”

She didn’t know if it was the result of hours of celebration or the alcohol or someone pointing out the truth, but under any other circumstances, Hope would have verbally leveled anyone who had the audacity to tease her about Kelley. After the Olympics, Kelley had been teased mercilessly for hanging all over Hope, but no one had breathed a word to Hope herself. Maybe it was because Ashlyn hadn’t been there and didn’t mean it maliciously. Hope knew that if she engaged with Ash that the younger girl would sense weakness and would keep pushing. She clenched her jaw and returned her eyes to her phone, hoping Ash would leave out of boredom.

Ash just smirked and called over Ali. “Yes?” Ali asked as she came to stand next to Ashlyn.

“Hope denies pinging,” Ash stated matter of factly. Hope continued to stare at her phone, praying that the heat in her cheeks was not showing past her tanned skin. “Can I get a second opinion?”

“Definitely pinging,” Ali responded with a nod. Hope took a deep breath in through her nose and continued to clench her teeth. She had to admit to herself that she’s been caught. She knew she had been periodically looking up at Kelley on the dancefloor, but she had convinced herself that she’d been covert and that it hadn’t been that often. Apparently she wasn’t as unnoticed as she had hoped. 

“See? Confirmed. You are practically humming with sexual tension and those lust daggers you are sending that girl aren’t helping your case any,” Ash said looking back over at Kelley, who had convinced Tobin and Sydney to dance with her. Hope glanced up briefly to see Kelley swaying to the music, eyes closed, with both hands in the air. In her right hand was a glass half-full of what could possibly be champagne and her other hand was waving back and forth with the beat.

Hope turned to Ashlyn and Ali. She lowered her head slightly to glare at them from under her pointed eyebrows and said, “Look you had your fun, now knock this shit off. Leave me and Kelley alone.”

Ali leaned back a little, obviously sensing the message Hope was trying desperately to convey, but Ash just put up her hands, “Ok, ok. Deny it all you want. It doesn’t change shit. Want me to take a poll?”

Hope sighed, “No, I want you to go the fuck away and leave me in peace until we leave.” Hope really did want the younger keeper to back off, but she didn’t have it in her to be angry. She had been staring in Kelley’s direction and she deserved to get caught. If not for her guilt, she would have gotten up as Ashlyn was walking over. She felt like she was getting what had been coming to her for a long time. She’d just have to endure it and pray it would end soon.

Ali grabbed Ashlyn’s elbow and gave it a gentle tug. It was clear to Hope that this wasn’t Ali’s idea and that she was just playing along for Ash’s sake. She looked up apologetically at Hope as Megan strolled over and sat down in the empty seat next to where Ali and Ash were standing. “It’s starting to look a little serious over here. What’s going on? Tell your loveable Pinoe,” Megan said, resting her head in her hand and batting her eyes.

“Nothing. Where’s Carli?” Hope asked looking back at her phone.

Megan smirked, but answered the question, “Not sure, but last I saw she was headed to the bathroom. Probably to have sexy facetimes with her soon to be hubby.” Hope nodded and kept her eyes on her phone. Megan leaned in and continued, “So I really don’t think all that scowling was because you guys were discussing the lovely Miss Lloyd. Could it be someone else that was causing such a stir? Perhaps someone a little bit shorter?”

Hope leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms, determined to keep her mouth shut. Ali gave Hope one last sorry look and walked back to the dance floor. Ash watched her walk away briefly and turned back to Hope and Pinoe undeterred.

“Well if you must know, Hope here has been sitting at this table all night pretending not to stare at O’Hara’s tight little ass. And when I brought it to her attention, she tried to use her many charms to get rid of me, but never explicitly denied it,” Harris stated smugly. Hope could feel the blood rushing to her cheeks. She hadn’t denied it and she knew she hadn’t denied it. She had been hoping Ali could convince Ash to abandon her efforts, but with the arrival of Rapinoe, this was going to go downhill quickly.

“Reeeee-eally?” Pinoe responded, turning to look at Hope. Hope met her longtime teammate’s eyes defiantly, silently pushing her to let this go. The look Pinoe gave her back was so laced with mischief that Hope knew that all of this was Pinoe’s idea, which meant that Tobin and Megan had very likely been teasing Kelley about her. 

Her skin prickled with anger as she got up from the table. She stared down Rapinoe as the shame and guilt of all that had happened three years ago began to boil her blood. She wasn’t going to let Kelley take the fall for this again and she refused to play anyone’s game. Especially Rapinoe, who had guessed long ago what Kelley meant to her. She was suddenly furious and wheeled on the younger midfielder, “Megan, you fucking know better.”

“What?” Rapinoe asked innocently, but the sparkle in her eye gave her away. Hope could tell she wasn’t going to give this up easily. From the corner of her eye, she saw Ash look between the two of them warily and mutter something about getting another drink. 

Hope leaned toward Rapinoe, her index finger pointed squarely at the other woman’s chest, and rasped, “I don’t know what kind of a game you’ve created Megan, but I’m not going to play it. And I’m not going to let you guys give Kelley a bunch of shit either.”

“Aw c’mon Hope! We’re just trying to have a little fun. Give you guys a little push,” Megan responded, smile fading in the heat of Hope’s anger.

Hope jammed her phone in her pocket aggressively and leaned toward Megan again. “I’m fucking married,” she stated angrily and started to walk away.

Megan held her ground and watched as Hope began to retreat. In a voice just loud enough for Hope to hear she asked, “Yeah? Are you really though?”

***

Kelley watched the heated exchange at Hope’s table with as much interest as she could get away with. The teasing about Hope had stopped as soon as Rapinoe had walked away and she had mercifully talked Tobin and Sydney into dancing with her. She knew there was going to be trouble when Megan had headed in Hope’s direction. It didn’t take long for the situation to become hostile and Kelley swore as soon as she saw Hope get up from the table.

Kelley turned to Tobin and said, “Hey I need a breather and some water. I’ll be right back.” Tobin nodded at her and kept dancing. Kelly set her glass down on the nearest table and turned toward the hallway with the bathrooms. Knowing Hope, she would try to make a quick exit out of the back. 

Kelley could see that Hope was clearly fuming as she walked toward the bathrooms. Hope raised her eyes at the same moment that Kelley moved to cut her off. Surprise and a hint of something else lit up the older woman’s features before it was quickly replaced with a cold fury that Kelley knew was directed at Rapinoe. A familiar spark ignited as Kelley met her gaze. For a second, Kelley felt like she was staring into the sun. Everything was heat and light, but it was gone as soon as Hope averted her eyes. Kelley froze, trying to catch her breath, and watched as Hoped disappeared down the corridor. 

Kelley found herself suddenly paralyzed with indecision. If she followed after Hope, she’d be right back in that place she had found herself three years ago, damn the consequences. But if she stayed, she could avoid all of the hurt feelings and teasing that had followed her home from London. If she stayed, she could deny still having feelings for Hope. If she stayed, she could keep pretending that whatever they had was then and there was no now. If she stayed, she could hold together the pieces of her once shattered heart, for a little while longer at least. 

Damn the consequences, she thought as her feet purposefully moved her toward the hallway. Her jaw was set in determined resignation as she almost slammed into Carli, who was exiting the hallway. “Sorry!” Kelley exclaimed.

Carli met her eyes and nodded her head toward the last door. “She’s outside,” she said simply, before swiftly walking past her. 

Kelley took in a deep breath and headed for the alley door.

***

Hope stood at the end of the alley with her hands on her head, willing her anger to subside. She tried to focus on the sounds of late night revelers on the nearby streets and the smell of garbage and grime surrounding her in the alley. She took in a deep breath of night air and silently thanked Carli for the heads up about the back door. 

Carli had known exactly what she needed after Hope had almost plowed into her on her way past the bathroom. Carli hadn’t asked what had happened. She had only taken one look at the set of Hope’s jaw and said, “The last door goes outside.” Hope hadn’t even thanked her as she pushed past her toward the door.

Hope let out a breath slowly; feeling tendrils of anger begin to flow away. How the fuck had she gotten herself into whatever this was? She crossed her arms in front of her chest, feeling the tug of her brand new medal on the back of her neck. A silent reminder of the last time a medal of this magnitude had been in its place. The last time she had been caught looking at O’Hara. She lowered her chin and closed her eyes.

“God damn it,” she muttered to herself as a deluge of happy memories flooded her mind. She couldn’t deny the spark she felt when she looked at Kelley and she couldn’t deny that seeing Kelley’s look of love and concern hadn’t lit her up like a forest fire. She wanted so badly to stay enraged at Megan’s dig on her marriage. Am I really though? she thought to herself. She knew that Megan knew the truth about her life at home. She knew how unhappy Hope had been for much of the last few months and had called her out on it. So of course it was Megan to push her to do something about it. She just hoped that Megan knew her blowing up was because it was the only option she had. 

She shook her head slightly at the memory of Kelley dancing in her white Birkenstocks and cutoff jeans. She felt a smile tug at the corners of her lips as she thought back to those days in London when Kelley had come to her for advice about her new position, had been her roommate and teased her about her snoring, and when Kelley had shocked her on the roof that celebration night by stealing a drunken kiss. 

Hope sighed and felt a flutter deep in her stomach. That kiss had led to more. And she’d been happy, really happy. But she wouldn’t let it last and Hope had broken Kelley’s heart. Then she’d watched as Kelley had to endure the team’s good natured teasing. At the time only Hope and Kelley knew that what they said was true and Hope had let Kelley endure it on her own. Later she worried that Kelley would never forgive her, but by some miracle, Kelley had slowly started inching back closer to Hope. The younger woman was either a glutton for punishment or had somehow gotten over it. No matter the reason, Kelley was once again standing near Hope and smiling at her on the field. Kelley had surprised her today when she leaned down on the podium and quickly kissed her on the forehead. At the time, she had just smiled at Kelley and quickly turned back to the celebration. But now, she could still feel Kelley’s lips on her forehead and the more she thought about it, the more she could feel the ghost of the very first kiss they shared on her lips.

Hope’s heart stopped as she heard the distinct sound of the door open behind her. Shit, she thought as she heard the soft sound of footsteps moving forward and the thunk of the door closing. It could only be one person and the thought was equally terrifying and elating.

“Hey,” said a quiet voice behind her. Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, she thought as she recognized the voice. Fuck.

***

It took only a second for Kelley to find Hope’s pensive figure at the end of the alley. She was facing away from the bar’s exit with her arms crossed and her head down. Kelley could see the gentle curves of the taller woman’s muscular back and shoulders. She seemed to tense as the door closed and Kelley was hesitant to make her presence known, not wanting to stoke the delicate fire that was Hope Solo. She took a deep breath and chanced a soft, “Hey.”

Hope didn’t respond, but her head lifted slightly. No response was better than an angry response, so Kelley tried again, “You ok?”

Kelley waited for a response. She felt something palpable coming off Hope in waves, as if she was radiating some kind of heat or energy. It gave Kelley the patience to wait for a response, to hope that she would let her guard down. Kelley barely registered the muffled music from the bar and the stench of the alley. Her sole focus was Hope. She’d tried to deny her feelings, then push them down, and then accept them for what she thought they were, just memories. Standing here alone with Hope, well, with Hope’s back, was the first time they had been alone together in three years. The realization of the situation hit Kelley suddenly, like an unforeseen punch to the gut. She wondered if Hope felt it too. She thought about abandoning ship again, avoiding these feelings, but resolved to hold on for just a little while more. Finally, she was rewarded with barely audible, “No.”

Kelley swallowed. “You want to talk about it?” The air in the alley had become thick and Kelley felt herself losing the ability to breathe calmly. She could feel her heartrate accelerate rapidly. How long would she let herself wait for Hope? How long had she been waiting for Hope and hadn’t realized it?

She watched as Hope seemed to war with herself and then suddenly straighten. She dropped her hands to her sides and slowly turned. Hope’s eyes remained down as she softly replied, “No. I don’t want to talk about it.”

Kelley parted her lips to respond, but lost the words she was about to say as Hope suddenly strode toward her with purpose. Her breath caught in her throat as Hope raised her eyes to meet hers. The cold fury of before was replaced by a fire so hot it burned blue. Kelley suddenly couldn’t remember where she was, or why she was there, or what had happened three years, three days, or three hours ago. All she could see was the burning blue of Hope’s eyes and then the inexplicable feel of Hope’s lips on hers. Somewhere far away, she heard the click of metal on metal as Hope slammed into her. Her eyes closed involuntarily as she lost herself for a moment.

Abruptly, Kelley’s senses came rushing back and she could feel the duality of Hope’s soft lips pressed crushingly against her own as if time was against them. Hope’s hands on her cheek and then in her hair. Hope’s lean and powerful body pressed against her own. She sensed the kiss beginning to end and felt an instant pang of grief. Rationally Kelley knew that she couldn’t stand out there all night, but she could feel Hope pulling away and she wasn’t ready. 

Fuck that, she thought. She was Kelley O’Hara and she was standing in an alleyway making out with Hope Solo and this would end when she was god damn good and ready. She summoned every ounce of her courage, just as she had that night on the roof, and wrapped her arms around Hope’s waist. She pulled Hope back toward her body and murmured, “Mmm-mm.” She felt the older woman smile against her lips and her stomach plummeted with happiness. 

Click. Kelley felt Hope freeze as she registered the door to the bar opening. They broke apart simultaneously and turned to the door. Pine poked her bleach blonde head out, complete with a Cheshire cat grin. “Wooooooo,” she called as they both reddened. 

Pinoe laughed and danced in the doorway as she sang, “Hope and Kelley, standing in an alley, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!”

Kelley pulled back from Hope and stared angrily at Megan. “That doesn’t even fucking rhyme!” she practically shouted.

Pinoe laughed again and loudly sang, “I don’t give an S-H-I-T!” 

Kelley looked back at Hope, who had the look of someone who had gotten caught red-handed, but didn’t care. They smiled at each other as they both raised their hand and flipped off Rapinoe. Megan laughed spritely and proclaimed, “You lovebirds have five minutes, then we outta here!” She laughed again as they waved her off and disappeared back into the bar.

Kelley and Hope stood frozen until they heard the soft thunk of the door closing. Hope let out a long breath. Kelley looked up at her, eyebrows raised and asked, “Um, so what now?”

Hope gave Kelley a mischievous half smile and replied, “No idea. We’ll figure it out in five minutes.” Kelley felt herself smiling back as Hope leaned down to kiss her again. That sounded like a perfect plan to her.


End file.
